Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Video shows people scaling US border wall in seconds - despite Trump insisting it 'can't be climbed'

President has claimed fencing is ‘very, very hard’ to scale

Alex Woodward
New York
Friday 06 December 2019 16:44 EST
Comments
People scale US border wall in seconds - despite Trump insisting it 'can't be climbed'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Donald Trump has praised construction of newly constructed wall along the US-Mexico border, which the president has insisted “can’t be climbed”.

But a viral video has proved that the wall can easily be scaled with a ladder.

In September, the president stood in front of the construction of a portion of the wall, which he said had been tested by “world-class mountain climbers” who found that “this was the one that was hardest to climb”.

He said: “And we’ve all seen the pictures of young people climbing walls with drugs on their back — a lot of drugs. I mean, they’re unbelievable climbers. This wall can’t be climbed. This is very, very hard.”

In a now-viral video uploaded this week, three men climbed a similar portion of border fencing within seconds.

The video from by Deseret Sun photojournalist J Omar Ornelas shows a man bracing a tall ladder at the foot of the fence as two men climb to the top, then easily slide down the ladder rails from the other side of the perforated fence.

So far, the president has not added any new miles of wall nor has he procured any new funding for his project, which he repeatedly promised on the campaign trail would be paid for by Mexico, ostensibly to prevent people from entering the country without legal permission.

Current wall construction replaced already-existing fencing.

Reports also showed how people have been able to breach the wall using common household tools that cost less than $100 from a hardware store.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in